Bravehearts mount rally to upend Suns

Wednesday

Jul 9, 2014 at 11:40 PMJul 10, 2014 at 12:57 AM

By Corey Keenan SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

WORCESTER — Worcester put together another late rally, as the Bravehearts rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth to top Pittsfield, 5-3, on Wednesday night at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field.

The win moves Worcester to 19-9 and gives the Bravehearts a three-game lead on Pittsfield (16-12) in the West Division.

Worcester's Dylan Harris worked a full count walk off Blake Drew to lead off the bottom of the eighth, and then Drew hit Shane Sandoval with a pitch. Harris and Sandoval executed a double steal to move into scoring position before Mark DeYoung struck out for the first out.

Brendan O'Reilly, who had been 0 for 3, turned the game around with one swing of the bat. The first pitch from reliever Alex Lagos was a fastball away that O'Reilly pushed past the second baseman to drive in Harris. Sandoval scored after a fielding error by right fielder Luke Reynolds on the play that gave Worcester a 5-3 lead.

"I was watching his warm up, and he kept throwing little low and away balls," O'Reilly said after his game-winning single. "So I just stayed with that and drove it the other way."

The Bravehearts jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Ian Strom singled with one out, and Harris followed with a bunt single. Shane Sandoval dribbled a ball off the end of his bat that looked like a sure second out of the inning until Tad Martin misfired on the throw and allowed Strom to score on the play.

The second run came across as DeYoung grounded out to short. Harris hustled home on the throw across the diamond to give Bravehearts starter Charlie Butler a lead.

Butler relinquished the lead in the third inning as Martin lead off with a single back up the middle. Martin was sacrificed into scoring position by Gary Tesch with a bunt. Butler walked Dan Donahue, and the two moved into scoring position as a passed ball eluded T.J. Riccio. Dan Pallazo's single tied the game for Pittsfield.

Butler's struggles continued into the fourth inning as he had Auburn native and Braveheart killer Zach Tower down in a 1-2 count. Butler hung his next pitch, and Tower cleared the trees in left-center field to put his Suns ahead, 3-2. The home run was Tower's third at Fitton Field against the Bravehearts.

David Montiverdi came in to face one batter, whom he walked.

He was quickly pulled for Joe Saia, who pitched well in his Worcester debut. He pitched 1 innings of one-hit ball and did not allow a run.

Josh Desai relieved Saia and earned the win, also in his Bravehearts debut. He threw three innings allowing just one hit and striking out three.

"I felt good in my first game," the Shrewsbury native said. "I just wanted to show the guys what I could do, show the coaches and prove that I can be a big part of this team."

Desai was impressed with the way his team battled back and got the win for the big southpaw.

"We have a great team, we battle at the plate," Desai said. "Our job as pitchers is to throw strikes, we've got a good defense, and the hitters will do their job."

Bravehearts manager Justin Edwards said that without the two newcomers in Saia and Desai, it may have been a different story.

"Without them coming in today, our pitching staff is pretty bare," Edwards said. "Just because of the last two days with how many pitchers we used and how many innings we used. So coming into today, we were really thin without those guys."

Former Bravehearts skipper, Alex Trezza was in attendance to watch his old team take home the win.

"Nothing has changed (since I left)," said Trezza, who was in the area to watch the Bay State Games. "They keep getting better, and they keep coming out and finding ways to win."